...AND THE BEAT GOES ON! The GRAND ILM DISCO POLL results are revealed!

Pretty sure we could crowdsource a cool spacedisco playlist!

This is all you need really:
http://991.com/newgallery/Geoff-Love-Close-Encounters-588378.jpg

Nick Ingman (not Geoff Love, he just put his name on it to help it sell) at his grooviest. And spaciest obv.

32. Gloria Gaynor - I Will Survive (1978)
320 points, 7 votes.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v655/lixnixn/R-131082-1324233696_zps8bd06ec8.jpeg

http://youtu.be/zpVQFhRwWQw

Yeah, there's been a lot of this one song, but isn't that because there's still pretty much nothing else like it? Forget that it's a powerful anthem and it's sort of generally fantastic - just think about what this song does. When you've just had a break up it's all too easy to identify with songs about wallowing in self-pity or howling rage at the ex, but that doesn't make them good for you. A friend used to propose that there should be a compilation CD of all the break-up songs that aren't wallow and howl songs, but just focus on moving on. It would be the perfect thing to give to any friend who was suddenly readjusting to independence. She even wanted to call the record "I Will Survive." Problem was, that was the only song she could come up with that fit the bill.

― dad a, 13. heinäkuuta 2007 0:00

If you take it just as asking to be congratulated for not going into cardiac arrest anytime recently, then yeah that's kind of paltry. ("Staying Alive" -- yeah, me too, so what?)

But in the context of the rest of the lyrics I think she means something more like "I will get over this." One thing pop songs can do really well is crystallizing small realizations like, in this case, the moment when you realize that the heartache won't kill you. This song nails that moment.

And again, with AIDS ravaging the gay community, you'd think there'd be times when a sentiment like "I will survive" doesn't seem like such a modest claim.

― dad a, 13. heinäkuuta 2007 19:03

When a song attains that degree of notoriety it tends to become "compilation material". I bet that most people don't even know who the singer is. This is to say that "I will survive" is a classic song because it transcends its author's identity... the kind of music you alway hear at parties but nobody (except the dj maybe) can name the artist...

― Simone, 23. maaliskuuta 2001 3:00

Hmm...maybe it's a girl thing? Because I happen to like it too, and don't really get sick of it. Gloria Gaynor's version, that is -- if it happens to be someone drunkenly singing it on the way out of a club in a parking lot, then I *am* kind of sick of it.

― Nicole, 23. maaliskuuta 2001 3:00

"I Will Survive" is a total classic. heartbreaking and uplifting at the same time. beautiful lyrics and a gorgeous, sad, goddamn beautiful arrangement. those strings! the voice!

― jed_ (jed), 24. joulukuuta 2005 4:34

anybody who does not respond emotionally to "I'm not that chained up little person still in love with you" is broken inside imo

― les yeux sans aerosmith (underrated aerosmith albums I have loved), 11. heinäkuuta 2010 15:40

yeah. a lot of hit songs lose their luster -- and any sense of excitement or energy -- from being overplayed and overexposed. not this one.

classic.

― Daniel, Esq., 11. heinäkuuta 2010 15:42

LOL

It's worth hearing the extended version of this song, there is a nice extra bit that isn't in the single version people have heard 100000 times.

I was expecting that higher. I disagree with the comments pasted up there, it *is* overplayed. The sentiment is great, of course, but it's pretty rare that it gets any response from me these days.

Oy.

31. Emotions - Best of My Love (1977)
321 points, 10 votes.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v655/lixnixn/rejoice_zps57066532.jpg

http://youtu.be/WPefERS7EZs

"Best of My Love" all the way. Earth, Wind and Fire were the backing band, weren't they?

― Ned Raggett (Ned), 26. elokuuta 2004 19:35

Your Favorite Moment in a Song

The "Owww" bit from The Emotions 'Best of my Love' which De La Soul also used to great effect in 'Say No Go'

― Chewshabadoo (Chewshabadoo), 19. elokuuta 2006 1:50

i like the production/sound of "emotions", but i never liked it as much as best of my love. by the emotions.

― scott seward, 14. toukokuuta 2010 20:30

TS: Best Of My Love v. Got To Be Real

YESSSSSS

30. Cheryl Lynn - Got to Be Real (1978)
340 points, 8 votes, one 1st place vote.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v655/lixnixn/R-2594888-1292258001_zps7ca8808c.jpeg

http://youtu.be/Y7hwP6is47M

My roommate just got all these ridiculous remixes of Cheryl Lynn's "Got to be Real" and I'm not even remotely tired of it yet. Go disco!

nb My roommate is a raver and the reason I am not tired of CL yet is cause it keeps her from spinning Timo Maas all day.

― adam, 9. kesäkuuta 2002 3:00

Why did you stop playing Role Playing Games?

As Cheryl Lynn so aptly put it in 1978, it's Got To Be Real!

― Marcello Carlin, 23. elokuuta 2004 12:29

Cheryl Lynn's "To Be Real" mentioned years upthread. A couple of other big hits from that epoch that give me the same giddy, bursting-with-joy helium buzz:

Emotions - Best of My Love
Natalie Cole - This Will Be (An Everlasting Love)

― briania, 15. helmikuuta 2008 15:57

Cheryl Lynn "Got To Be Real"

Come on folks, I challenge you to present me with something, anything as good as this shit. Go ahead.

― Bimble, 4. kesäkuuta 2007 9:03

TS: Best Of My Love v. Got To Be Real

Was there ever any money that Bimble was not on?

one of the few songs in my life that a relationship gone South has pretty much ruined a tune i useda love

xpost

Voted for "Got to Be Real"... The Emotions track is cool too, and as someone said in the thread I linked to, having EWF as your backing band is certainly better than having Toto, but there's just something so uplifting, sincere, and, er, "real" about Lynns vocals on that track... I don't get that from "Best of My Love", as pretty as it is.

i'm just glad the emotions placed. i love their voices.

Hmmm, looks like Myonga von Bontee was exaggerating a bit in that thread, I checked the credits, and there appears to be only one member of Toto on "Got to Be Real", the keyboard player. The guitarist on that tune is Ray Parker Jr.!

Though IIRC Parker appeared on many 70s records as a session player, before his Ghostbusters fame. He's on some Herbie Hancock's funk albums from that era too.

whoever said upthread how great it is that we're getting a perfect mix of big hits and cult classics at all levels of this rollout otm

re: Donna Summer, I realized too late that "Dim All The Lights" was never nominated, but it should be on this list (I'll pretend it replaced Last Dance). The 12" version has never failed to kill, and dat 16 second vocal note!

If it had been a poll of 51 tracks, then "Got To Be Real" would have got my vote.

got to be real is amazing, i especially love the multitracked voices singing "TO be REAL"

29. Earth, Wind & Fire - Fantasy (1977)
345 points, 7 votes, one 1st place vote.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v655/lixnixn/R-3432956-1330195734_zps80f1ff7f.jpeg

http://youtu.be/6mV8ew_stNs

I distrust any man who doubts the buoyancy of "Fantasy" and "Serpentine Fire."

― Rich Lolwry (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), 17. maaliskuuta 2011 23:48

Their late-'70s move towards MOR strangely did very little to diminish their power as a band.

― Eric H. (Eric H.), 23. heinäkuuta 2003 0:30

That said, *classic* for their magma '70s output. My favorites are "Fantasy" (best use of Philip's falsetto) and "Boogie Wonderland" (for sheer memorability). P.S. I have had a giant poster of them c. 1980 hanging in my studio apartment for three years.

― Joseph McCombs (Joseph McCombs), 9. tammikuuta 2006 7:48

I often these days think, to myself, when listening to Earth, Wind & Fire: "this was the best fucking band in the world"

― get your bucket of free wings (underrated aerosmith albums I have loved), 7. kesäkuuta 2010 10:25

I think fantasy is just a miracle of songwriting... The arrangement is so tight and colourful, and it's quite rare to hear a song where not just the chorus but also the verses and the bridge all have such memorable and catchy melodies. Plus those falsettos!

aerosmith otm

I........I can't say anything about this song. It's staring at the face of god.

Saw "Thank God It's Friday" in the "Last Dance" picture and got excited...then swiftly crushed that it wasn't the title track placing. What are the chances that enough of you rated Love & Kisses enough for it to place?

Last fall I spent a lot of time with "Raise!" and, god, it's more consistent than some of tbe seventies stuff.

I hadn't thought of the EW&F as disco for some reason, but that's a fantastics song. Not much I'm not liking on this list, but the Euro disco stuff tends to be iffy for me.

I had known this song, but I rediscovered it when someone mentioned it on a Latin music forum and I checked it out and went: oh yeah, that one.

(Not that I'm into contemporary Cuban music, but EW&F are a huge influence on Cuban timba, especially when you go back to the 90s stuff. It's actually a bit of a joke amongst timba fans how much timba has sometimes been indebted to this band.)

Curious that we've had two in a row from Heatwave, and then from Chaka Khan, and then from Gloria Gaynor.

i challenge any "i will survive" haters not to break down and give in over this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDKc51RO2gc

pretty far out, imo.

thanks for all the work on this Tuomas!

so, does italo not qualify or did you guys just not vote for them?

Didnt vote any italo, savin up for the italo poll, Mostly went for capital D studio 54 disco

I voted plenty italo, but didn't expect them to show up. I think there will be a separate Italo poll in the future though.

Italo poll is going to be so much fun

I have a couple hundred nominations waiting to go....! Oh wait.

"Fantasy" is obviously one of the greatest pop-R&B songs ever written.

... but disco?

My EW&F vote went to "Can't Let Go." I defy you to resist it.

I voted for four EWF songs - including this one and "Can't Let Go" - which is kind of absurd, I know. They aren't even primarily a disco band. But I couldn't fucking not do that. I mean, there are way more than four Earth Wind and Fire songs that are among my favorite songs ever.

Voted 'fantasy' top 5 iirc but regretting not backing one or two other ew&fs at least, especially 'in the stone' which makes me instantaneously happier more than p much any other song ever.

damn, no Honey Bee then.

worried the boss won't be here

Dancing In The Dark was 1985

at this point my number one concern is Lowdown

I've been w/out internet access for over a week and dying to catch up with this poll's results; so far, I'm just really, really happy that "Haven't You Heard" placed... a great one I hadn't heard of until the 2006 Larry Levan comp.

28. Bee Gees - Night Fever (1978)
356 points, 8 votes.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v655/lixnixn/R-1711642-1342120107-2493_zps40a7f414.jpeg

http://youtu.be/-ihs-vT9T3Q

"night fever" is FABULOUS, the string arranging is brilliant and it's so well composed (with three distinct parts).

― fred solinger, 6. kesäkuuta 2001 3:00

Man, have you ever got up and shook yo ass to "Night Fever?" It's gold. Pure gold. Seriously, play that tune really loud in your room and boogie, and see if you don't feel the power.

― Gage-o, 23. joulukuuta 2001 3:00

I can't help but love every single track from the SNF soundtrack -- I mean the movie on its own kills me, but goddamn so many good Bee Gees songs on there (not to mention the others).

I get a good feeling from this song.

― Peppermint Patty Hearst (VegemiteGrrl), 20. kesäkuuta 2012 18:56

Fun fact about "Night Fever": looped sections of its rhythm track are the basis for "More Than a Woman" and "Stayin' Alive" (and according to the engineer, "Woman In Love" on the Streisand record, but I'm not sure I believe that). Less fun fact: it's because the drummer's dad died and he had to leave the sessions for a few days.

― Naive Teen Idol, 20. kesäkuuta 2012 20:02

27. Grace Jones - Pull up to the Bumper (1981)
359 points, 11 votes.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v655/lixnixn/R-17639-1304886940_zpsa63b396e.jpeg

http://youtu.be/Tc1IphRx1pk (music video)
http://youtu.be/oNyo-I6OF2Y (12" version)

How can you not bump to this? That bassline - Sly & Robbie

"Percussive frothy funk, knee-deep in sexual metaphor" “Pull up to my bumper baby/ And drive inbetween” The attraction in this case is less the instant/immediate thrills but more a long held admiration of the icon that is Grace, notwithstanding that this is one hellova jam, especially the longer Larry Levan mix. Basically, its the sex appeal, the amazonian stature of Grace (her vocals alone convey this); most times this song makes me horny and that in itself makes it a significant choice.

― Tannenbaum Schmidt, 14. marraskuuta 2009 21:06

i didnt know, but i never know these things. i learned every single one from ilm like how 'pull up to the bumper' is abt anal sex. i think its because i learned to love music thru classical music and it took me ages to learn how to listen to lyrics

― minna (minna), 4. syyskuuta 2005 11:59

"Grace Jones - Pull Up To The Bumper"

My parents bought this single saying:"She's cool! You have to listento this!"

Of course I never did. Until a few years ago. *sigh*

― nathalie's baby (stevie nixed), 14. toukokuuta 2005 20:04

DJed "Use Me" and "Nightclubbing" and "Pull Up to the Bumper" on Friday night. what's great about those tracks is that they can really spring you into just about anywhere (weird rock, funk, dub, disco) afterwards.

― beta blog, 27. heinäkuuta 2008 18:54

Such an interesting point. Whereas some music leads you very firmly in one direction, Grace Jones' music is supple and genre-shifting enough for that simply not to be an issue.

― Daniel Giraffe, 30. heinäkuuta 2008 12:02

I don't think I voted for a Grace Jones track, but I'm glad she's in the mix.

26. Donna Summer - I Feel Love (Patrick Cowley Megamix) (1980)
362 points, 8 votes, two 1st place votes.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v655/lixnixn/R-62697-1319727150_zpsb750e947.jpeg

http://youtu.be/xSTf0B-9laQ

The 15-minute version is indescribably great. Better than the original. One of the best remixes ever.

― Mr. Snrub (Mr. Snrub), 19. joulukuuta 2003 3:38

It's pretty amazing. I like starting it in the middle where it's just the Cowley part so you can't even tell it's I Feel Love at first.

― Dan Selzer (Dan Selzer), 19. joulukuuta 2003 3:46

HA, this thread amuses me as someone who's been away from the board for a couple years but whenever listening to Patrick Cowley (which is quite often), wants to start a "TS: Patrick Cowley vs. Giorgio Moroder" thread, which I feel is a more appropriate matchup than Russell. The teacher vs. the student, burning out vs. fading away, etc.

So what does ILM have to say about THIS particular matchup? Moroder's peaks (From Here to Eternity, "The Chase", "I Feel Love", No. 1 in Heaven, fucking inventing this shit) definitely beat Cowley's, but I can't help but wonder if Patrick hadn't died so young (wasn't he the first celebrity AIDS casualty?), what would he have accomplished? I mean, did Moroder do anything worth a shit in the 25 years since Cowley died?

― mikeohhh, 23. elokuuta 2007 0:43

I love the 12" and album mixes of I Feel Love, but Cowley's mix is an entirely different beast, more like a mixture of the original and an entirely new Patrick Cowley epic.

― Dan Selzer (Dan Selzer), 3. kesäkuuta 2004 21:04

Rocking the 15 minute Patrick Cowley megamix of "I Feel Love" as I type. So great.

― Soccer mom, hopeless and lost, in utter despair (Dan Peterson), 17. toukokuuta 2012 19:30

The Larry Levan mix of "Pull Up To The Bumper" is so good : http://youtu.be/U3RCPNKHBRs

Pull Up To The Bumper was in my top 5. Perfect song from one of the best albums of all time.

Wtf. Here's that vote split I was worried about :(